Bad service and demands for payment - Part 3

Now after the more general questions that John sent me and before I had provided him with some answers, he sent me a more specific question...

I have a contract that a supplier is trying to enforce payment on. We signed a contract but never paid the required 50% deposit. The contract letter p2 states:

“trading – 50% deposit, balance on delivery”

And below signature line it states.. “By signing this & paying deposit you are accepting of the above terms & conditions which can only be varied by a notice in writing & signed by both parties”

We thought this meant that we needed to sign AND pay the deposit, and then we would be bound by the terms and conditions of this contract. Since we never paid the deposit, we are not bound by the terms and conditions of this contract. Is that correct?

The short and simple response was this -

Contracts are essentially made when there is:

offer, acceptance, consideration

They offered to do work, you accepted in part by signing the quote, even if you didn’t pay the deposit, if they acted in reliance upon your signed acceptance, even if you didn’t pay the deposit, and did work, then you probably do owe them money.

The real question is, have they done any work for you? If they have, you owe them money, maybe not all they have asked for, but a reasonable sum for the work that they have done. I suggest you have a frank and honest conversation with them as to why you did not pay the deposit, and why you don’t want to pay the balance now, and negotiate a result you can both live with.

If they haven’t yet done any work for you, they can’t seek payment.

What kind of difference would this kind of advice make for you in your business?